Q: What is the most important ingredient in a good fish soup?A: Fresh fish

Q: Who would be the expert at choosing fresh fish?A: A fishmonger

Q: Why is the fish soup at Boon Keng Road Fish Head Bee Hoon so good?A: Because the person cooking used to be a fishmonger

Mdm Tan used to be a fishmonger before she started her fish soup stall along Boon Keng Road in 1998 before moving to her present location in the year 2000. She used to go to the port to choose her own fish, but now has the fish sent directly from Jurong Port to her stall everyday.

But, as you know, just because a fish is fresh doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the best. Where the fish comes from also plays a big role and the price also depends on whether the fish are airflown or shipped to Singapore. At this stall top grade batang (Spanish mackeral) airflown from Ujang Pandang, a region in Indonesia famous for the quality of their Spanish Mackeral, are used to make their fish soup.

But good fish alone doesn’t make a good fish soup. Every component of the recipe is important. One of the most important ingredient in fish soup is ti por ie solefish. Mdm Tan doesn’t stinge on this increasingly expensive ingredient. If you order her meat balls, the pieces of sole fish literally sticks out of it like a naval mine.

According to her son, Boon, 30 who also works full time at the stall, they were the first to add slices of bittergourd to fish soup years ago when they were still at Boon Keng road. The bitterness of the bittergourd changes somewhat in the fish soup and adds an extra dimension of lightness to the soup. 4.25/5

Aside from the fish soup and fish head bee hoon, the stall also sells bak kut teh, peppery pig organ soup and other side dishes. I didn’t try it all but there are readers who recommend them.